Monthly Archives: September 2013

Shadow puppetry is an ancient form of storytelling through the use of puppets and light. It began about 2000 years ago in China when an emperor’s wife died, and his court created a shadow version of her so that the emperor could see her again.

You too can do it at home with just a torch and some paper shapes. Ask an adult to point a torch at a wall a couple of metres away. Then hold paper shapes between the torch and the wall to cast shadows on the wall. Here’s a good guide for making shadow puppets.

From animals to trees and smiley, sad and scary faces, you can make all sorts. Even your hands can create different animals – though some are more complicated than others! Can you guess what each animal is?

Shadows are made when an opaque (non see-through) object blocks light. The size and shape of the shadow depends on the distance between the light source and the object casting the shadow as well as the distance between the object and the surface on which the shadow is cast. The closer you move an object to the light source the bigger it gets. Try it – if you hold your hand ten centimetres from the torch it blocks out much more light than if you hold it a metre from the torch.